Olympian Carl Lewis said on Monday that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie canceled a plan to give the track star a position after Lewis decided to run for state senate in 2011.

The nine-time Olympic gold medalist was reportedly set to serve as the state’s “fitness ambassador,” before he decided to run against a Republican incumbent in 2011. Yet when rumors began swirling about Lewis’ campaign, he told NJ.com that he received a call from Governor Christie dissuading him from running.

“I thought it was going just fine. And when I started to run, when he talked to me on the phone that night, he said ‘If you run, we’re going to have to cancel the program,’” Lewis said.

Lewis eventually withdrew from the race because he didn’t meet the state’s residency requirement.

In the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal that has marred Christie’s governorship, Lewis told NJ.com that he sees a parallel between the scandal and his interactions with the governor.

“I felt like he was trying to intimidate me, absolutely. But I definitely didn’t feel intimidated,” Lewis said. He added that he didn’t consider Christie a bully, but “someone who’s insecure, and he’s governor now and has got the power.”

Chris Christie tried to DATE carl lewis?! I thought you liberals would be PLEASED about that, perhaps he was cheating on Obama with lewis, after seeing him and Obama arm in arm I'd wonder! Surte hope the Muslims are ok with it oir can do something about it TOLERANTLY wink wink nudge nudge! hee hee

Come on Carl, don't get involved in this Christie bashing. You have a respectable reputation so try and keep it that way. All publicity is not good publicity. All politicians should learn a valuable lesson. Sometimes it's best to keep your mouth shut. then putting your foot in it.

Chris Soprano has bullied an intimidated hundreds in NJ, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The revelations will just keep coming and soon the staffers he pushed under the bus will start singing as well.

Cry me a river. The Democrats and especially the media will demonize anyone who is a Republican, but they refuse to mention one of their own party members who are guilty of incompetence or crimes. Herman Cain is a good man, but when he ran for office as a Republican, he was made to look like the devil himself. Why are we hearing so much more about this than the Senate report regarding Benghazi? Talk about Christie, but let's also talk about Hillary Clinton with the same amount of zeal.

Should have seen this one coming...the media - TIME Magazine being no exception - will now dig up every microscopic piece of dirt they can find on Christie, and make a mountain out of it. They will not stop until Christie resigns (or becomes a Democrat).

It's quite deplorable that TIME and other outlets devote such zealous coverage against Christie, but refuse to raise a finger to those Democrats/progressives who do far worse.

Funny how you only look at people two ways (liberal or conservative). There aren't any people who may like the president who are moderately conservative, or any who don't like the president who are moderately liberal. There aren't libertarians who are for the president and libertarians who are against the president.

"...Lamestreamers..." You sound just like Chris Christies spokesman...Don't bring up anything else that may negatively impact Chris Christie or we will attempt to discredit you without bothering to answer your questions or responding to your assertion.

@DennisMaddenhahahaha....omg, christie is sociopath. this kind of bully starts out on the playground and continues through to adulthood. he needs to be stop. the feds need to arrest him before he gets too far and harms more people.

@dg41wsYou mean the Senate report that clearly said there was no stand down or no cover up? I'd rather know why we aren't hearing more about the fact that the Saudis were behind the 9/11 attacks and that information was hidden from the US public.

@dg41ws We have talked about Benghazi with the same zeal. 60 minutes had Issa "witness" on to talk about Benghazi. We've talked about it for months - and months - and months - and hearing after hearing after hearing. When your big star witness gets two 60 minutes members laid off because the story was bogus and they believed him - your story falls apart.

You have to have something to get someone. The Christie story has legs because two lanes were closed on the busiest bridge in the nation, two of Christie's office staff were fired and two of his Port Authority guys resigned and one of them plead the 5th when brought before a court. Now stories that fortify the quid pro quos are coming out in mass.

The Senate report on Benghazi clearly says the video was part of the problem. When you base your case on the video having nothing to do with the problem, your case falls apart. It's not rocket science. It's not hard to understand. You have to have something for the press to cover it. It's simple.

@mrbomb13 It's the New Jersey Attorney General making a case about this. It's two investigations by the New Jersey Assembly making a case about his. It's 20 subpoenas and two firings and two resignations and pleadings of the fifth making this case. This isn't Time's fault, or MSNBC's fault - this is all Christie's making. He did it. He made jokes about the bridge closing and didn't even try to find out what was going on. The press didn't even touch this until the emails and firings and pleading the fifth came out.

You wouldn't know a leader if it was served to you on a platter. Christie is going to come out of this stronger. Will he beat Clinton in 2017? Maybe, maybe not, but he's a far stronger leader than most.

The CEO is not to "blame" for the activities of certain employees. The CEO fires the bad employees, makes changes to the culture that allowed the hires, and moves forward with an improved organization.

Christie will come out of this stronger than he was. He will be found faultless for the lane closure, and matured in his leadership abilities. Will he beat Clinton in 2017? Maybe, maybe not, but he is certainly a better leader than most of the garbage currently populating capitol hill.

@CarlLegg Wha? So your idea of a good man is one with a proven track record of being a bully? One who calls peple names when they ask him a question? One who intimidates via raising his voice and not the merit of his argument? One who surrounds himself by people who are willing to harm the very electorate they are sworn to protect and to use the weight of government to do it?

ROFL, and that's what the country needs for a President? There was a recent article in the NYTimes about 'a guys guy' and you should take a moment to read the comments ->what most people from both parties thought a real man represents. You might be surprised that most people, by far and away, felt the measure of a man did not embody very much of what Christie represents.

@CarlLegg@zen4fingcynics Tell that to Republicans! They're the ones you have to convince. I don't think those in the know in the Re[publican party are quite as rose-colored-glasses ignorant as you are.